How Premier League's sixth place could earn a Champions League spot

Newcastle United have four games to play in the Premier League this season, but relegation to the Championship and qualification for next season's Champions League are still possibilities for Eddie Howe's team.

Yes, that's right: next season's fixture list for the Magpies could involve a Championship game against Lincoln City or a Champions League clash with Real Madrid.

It seems a ridiculous scenario -- Newcastle are in 14th position ahead of Saturday's meeting with sixth-place Brighton & Hove Albion at St James' Park, and they sit 12 points above the relegation and eight behind Fabian Hürzeler's Seagulls, so mid-table obscurity would appear to be the only thing that Howe and his players will achieve this season.